WASHINGTON, D.C.
Diet warning for older Americans
Study says greater risk of death from heart disease, cancer linked to eating too much red or processed meat
The largest study of its kind finds that older Americans who eat large amounts of red meat and processed meats face a greater risk of heart disease and cancer.
The federal study of more than 500,000 men and women bolsters prior evidence of the health risks of diets laden with red meat such as hamburger and processed meats such as hot dogs, bacon and cold cuts. The findings were published in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine.
Over 10 years, eating the equivalent of a quarter-pound hamburger daily gave men in the study a 22 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease. That’s compared to those who ate the least red meat, just 5 ounces per week. Women who ate large amounts of red meat had a 20 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease than women who ate less. For processed meats, the increased risks for large quantities were slightly lower overall than for red meat.
Dietitian Ceci Snyder of the National Pork Board said the study “attempts to indict all red meat consumption by looking at extremes in meat consumption.”
Lean meat as part of a balanced diet can prevent chronic disease, along with exercise and avoiding smoking, said Shalene McNeill, dietitian for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
LEBANON
Blast kills official in Palestinian faction backed by U.S.
Palestinian men carry a body away from a burning vehicle after it was hit by a roadside explosion that killed Kamal Madhat, a senior Fatah official, and three of his bodyguards and wounded a fourth on Monday as they were leaving the Mieh Mieh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon in a two-car convoy. The camp is primarily controlled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ mainstream Fatah group.
SUDAN
Defiant leader travels
Sudan’s president traveled to Eritrea on Monday, choosing one of Africa’s most politically isolated nations for his first trip abroad since an international court sought his arrest on charges of war crimes in Darfur.
The one-day visit followed Eritrea’s official invitation to Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, who faces the arrest warrant by the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court.
Eritrean television showed live coverage of Bashir being greeted at the airport in the Eritrean capital of Asmara by his counterpart, President Isaias Afwerki, along with drummers and dancers. Sudanese state television later Monday showed live images of Bashir returning to Khartoum.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Scalia called homophobe
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is gay, called Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a “homophobe” in a recent interview with the gay news Web site 365gay.com.
The Democratic lawmaker was discussing gay marriage and his expectation that the court would eventually be called upon to decide whether the Constitution allows the federal government to deny recognition of same-sex marriages.
“I wouldn’t want it to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court,” Frank said.
Attempts to obtain a comment from Frank were not immediately successful Monday. Scalia had no comment.
Scalia has complained about judges, rather than elected officials, deciding questions of morality about which the Constitution is silent.
ALASKA
Volcano spews ash
Mt. Redoubt erupted five times late Sunday into Monday, sending an ash plume more than 9 miles in the air in the volcano’s first emissions in nearly 20 years.
Residents in the state’s largest city were spared from falling ash, though fine gray dust was falling Monday morning on small communities north of Anchorage. Ash from Alaska’s volcanoes is like a rock fragment with jagged edges and has been used as an industrial abrasive. It can injure skin, eyes and breathing passages. The young, elderly and people with respiratory problems are especially susceptible to ash-related health problems. Ash can also damage engines.
Alaska Airlines on Monday canceled 19 flights and Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage kept 60 planes in shelters.
CANADA
Seal hunt begins
TORONTO — Canada’s annual seal hunt started Monday, facing a possible European Union ban on imported seal products.
The world’s largest marine mammal hunt was called “inherently inhumane” earlier this month by a European Parliament committee that endorsed the bill to ban the import of seal products to the 27-member union. Animal rights groups say the hunt is cruel and ravages the seal population.
But sealers and Canada’s Fisheries Department counter that the hunt is humane, sustainable and brings money to isolated fishing communities.
Fishermen sell seal pelts mostly for the fashion industry as well as blubber for oil. The hunt exported around $5.5 million of products to the EU in 2006.
